United States: USCIS Announces Implementation of Several New Fees for Humanitarian Applications Based on Reconciliation Bill
July 21, 2025
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At a glance
- USCIS has announced implementation plans for a majority of the new immigration fees to be collected as a result of the budget reconciliation bill passed by Congress in early July.
- New fees are scheduled to take effect upon publication in the Federal Register on July 22, but USCIS will not reject impacted applications for improper fees until August 22, 2025.
- DHS will issue separate notice(s) for additional new fees required by the bill in future publications.
The issue
Starting July 22, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin collecting several of the new USCIS fees enacted by the budget reconciliation bill (H.R.1) passed by Congress in early July, according to an advance copy of the Federal Register (FR) notice. The notice implements the new fees for asylum and temporary protected status (TPS) applications as well as employment authorization document (EAD) fees for these beneficiaries, among other filing fees.
According to the notice, these new fees are in effect for benefit requests postmarked on or after July 22, 2025. However, there appears to be a 30-day grace period in which benefit requests submitted with the prior fee will presumably be issued an RFE or NOID rather than be rejected. USCIS says that it will reject any form postmarked on or after August 21, 2025, without the proper fees.
Background
President Trump signed the budget reconciliation into law on July 4. H.R.1 created new fees for several humanitarian immigration programs, including additional fees for initial and renewed employment authorization documents (EADs) and new limits on the validity period of those EADs.
New fees for several humanitarian immigration programs
This table captures the fees being implemented by USCIS starting July 22:
|
Case type |
Initial fee* |
Subsequent fee* |
Fee waiver available? |
Additional information |
|
Asylum application |
$100** |
$100** each year application is pending |
No |
*** |
|
|
$550** |
$275** per renewal |
No |
EAD terminates after asylum application denial unless appealed |
|
|
$500** (plus $30 biometrics fee) |
|
No |
|
|
TPS EAD |
$550** |
$275** per renewal |
No |
EAD validity limited to one year or validity of TPS grant, whichever is shorter |
|
Parole EAD |
$550** |
$275** per renewal |
No |
EAD validity limited to one year or validity of parole grant, whichever is shorter |
|
Special Immigrant Juvenile petition |
$250 |
N/A |
Not prohibited by the legislation |
|
* After FY 2025, fees will be adjusted annually for inflation.
** DHS is authorized to establish by regulation a higher fee than that specified in the legislation.
*** According to USCIS, the agency will issue personal notices to foreign nationals when their annual asylum fee is due, which will include the amount of the fee, when it must be paid, how the fee must be paid, and the consequences of failing to pay. USCIS will provide guidance for future years’ annual asylum payments in subsequent issuances. This fee must be submitted online.
What’s next
In the FR notice, USCIS confirmed it is working towards the implementation of the remaining H.R. 1 fees, including the immigration parole fee; the “visa integrity fee” that will be applied at U.S. consulates for nonimmigrant visa issuance; fees for ESTA and EVUS visitors; and fees related to Form I-131, Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records, and Form I-102, Application for Replacement/Initial Nonimmigrant Arrival-Departure Document.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen.
